Shilpa Shetty can travel abroad

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty can now travel abroad. The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the ‘look out’ notice issued against her by the Superintendent of Police, Mundawar (Alwar) in Rajasthan in connection with the controversial kiss by Hollywood actor Richard Gere during an AIIDS awareness function in the capital.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan stayed the ‘look out notice’ after her counsel Anand Grover submitted that it has become difficult for her to go abroad for her assignments as the notice directed the airport and police authorities to apprehend and restrain her from leaving India.

The order comes as a major reprieve for the actress of Big Brother fame, who frequently travels abroad for her professional assignments.

The April 15 kissing incident during an AIDS awareness programme at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar here had sparked off strong protests in several cities.

In fact, a Rajasthan court had issued a warrant against Shilpa and Richard and a court in Ghaziabad had summoned both of them on criminal complaints filed against them for alleged obscenity and indecent public behaviour.

The apex court on May 15 stayed the criminal proceedings in all these cases. Grover contended that the notice has become illegal and infructuous in view of the stay order.

The court has already issued notices to various complainants on her petition seeking transfer of all the cases related to the controversy to Mumbai.

Seeking quashing of criminal cases registered against her in various courts at Jaipur, Ghaziabad and Mundawar (Alwar), Shetty claimed that wrong projection of the incident in the public by the media resulted in the filing of private criminal complaints.

Shilpa, a resident of Mumbai, requested the apex court to transfer all the cases to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in the western metropolis.